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# quack

«quack» in Mova's school dictionary: **the loud, harsh sound a duck makes; to quack means to…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a quack, quacks); verb (quack, quacks, quacked, quacking); adjective (quack remedy)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A quack is the loud, harsh sound a duck makes; to quack means to make that sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#m1)

2) A quack is a person who pretends to be a doctor or to have medical skill and sells fake cures. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#m2)

3) (UK, Australia, slang) «The quack» can be a joking word for a real doctor. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

With young children, «quack quack» is the duck sound in songs like «Five Little Ducks». In science and health lessons, a quack sells «cures» that do not work, so we learn to check health claims and trust real doctors and evidence. Phrases: «quack doctor», «quack remedy», «quack medicine», «if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck».

### examples

- The ducks quacked loudly when we brought bread. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x1)
- «Quack, quack!» went Mother Duck. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x2)
- The quack sold bottles of coloured water as medicine. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x3)
- Don't trust quack cures you see online. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x4)
- I'm off to see the quack about my cough. (UK, slang) [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x5)
- If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x6)
- Be wise and shun the quack. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/#x7)

### note

Regular verb: quacked, quacking. Calling a real doctor «a quack» is joking slang; calling someone a quack in earnest is an accusation of fraud. «Quackery» means fake medicine. Myth: a duck's quack does echo, despite the old story that it doesn't.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «quack» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/Q/quack/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.